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THE VOLANTE.
Vol. VI. JANUARY, 1893. No. 4.
-----
TO AMEND COMPETITION IN INDUSTRY.
FRANK FALKENSTEIN.
It is difficult to tell whether the existing conflict
between capital and labor is caused more by
purely material than by ethical reasons. Some claim
that it is caused by avarice — by the desire of both
parties to secure a larger share of the joint product,
there being no definite plan, on the part of labor at
least, for using it, except perhaps to raise the
standard of living. Others say that it is due to the
general dissatisfaction of labor with its social position
— that it hopes to change the industrial and social
conditions, and harmonize them with those of
the other elements of our high civilization; that it
hopes to so change present surroundings as to be
able to advance itself more rapidly in an educational
and a professional line, and bring stronger motives
in view for so doing.
The occasion for the conflict seems to lie in the
material idea, but the real underlying cause is
found in the ethical. The movement of labor is an
important part of the great movement toward a
higher civilization. Labor has a stronger purpose
before it today, and its movements are more scientific
than ever before. It is better educated
at present, and its strikes are made with a definite
intention of at once raising its standard of living,
and in the end changing the system under which it
is working.
There are but two great systems in industry, the
competitive and the co-operative. In the one capital
assumes all the losses and gets all the profits
arising from production; in the other labor assumes
all losses and secures all profits. The factory system
is a part of the competitive. The purest form
of the co-operative system is socialism, but it has
been modified in a system popularly known as "cooperation"
— an idea which possesses none of the objectionable
features of socialism and one whose adoption
by modern society will be easy. There are
other modified forms of the competitive, such as
profit-sharing and "economic distribution of earnings,"
which give it many of the excellent qualities
of co-operation. The so called co-operative association
is more like a corporation, but as it is
generally composed of a limited number of laborers
alone, and not capitalists, organized for the purpose
of investing and handling their own capital in
connection with their daily manual trade, and
thus securing a just distribution of earnings, it is
popular to distinguish it from the corporation which
is generally composed of large capitalists — men who
commonly perform no manual labor — and call it a
co-operative association shall use the word co-operation
with the popular meaning — i. e. the corporative
and devoid of the broad or socialistic idea.
Both the co-operative and competitive principles
are old; they both came to us from the ancients.
Co-operation in early times is generally illustrated
by pointing to the old Teutonic communistic village.
All governments are co-operative. The
church is an ideal form of co-operation as far as its
sphere extends. The ancient competitive system
can be best illustrated by referring to the Asiatic
castes and to the different classes in Europe and
even to the separate governments. For instance
the Jews were compelled to compete with the inhabitants
of Canaan for the possession of that fair
country, and even after they once possessed it they
had continually to compete with the surrounding
nations to preserve their ownership. There was a
constant competition for existence between the upper
and lower castes as there is yet in many Asiatic
countries. The principle of competition can be
nicely illustrated by referring to the animal world,
where a continual war is waged on the weaker animals
by the stronger.
Competition, as waged in society today, possesses

Images from this collection may be downloaded for non-commercial educational and research purposes on the condition that The University of South Dakota, Archives and Special Collections is credited as the source. For permission to use a particular item for any other purpose, such as publishing, video production, exhibits, product presentations, interior design, or advertising, you must contact The University of South Dakota, Archives and Special Collections. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright.

THE VOLANTE.
Vol. VI. JANUARY, 1893. No. 4.
-----
TO AMEND COMPETITION IN INDUSTRY.
FRANK FALKENSTEIN.
It is difficult to tell whether the existing conflict
between capital and labor is caused more by
purely material than by ethical reasons. Some claim
that it is caused by avarice — by the desire of both
parties to secure a larger share of the joint product,
there being no definite plan, on the part of labor at
least, for using it, except perhaps to raise the
standard of living. Others say that it is due to the
general dissatisfaction of labor with its social position
— that it hopes to change the industrial and social
conditions, and harmonize them with those of
the other elements of our high civilization; that it
hopes to so change present surroundings as to be
able to advance itself more rapidly in an educational
and a professional line, and bring stronger motives
in view for so doing.
The occasion for the conflict seems to lie in the
material idea, but the real underlying cause is
found in the ethical. The movement of labor is an
important part of the great movement toward a
higher civilization. Labor has a stronger purpose
before it today, and its movements are more scientific
than ever before. It is better educated
at present, and its strikes are made with a definite
intention of at once raising its standard of living,
and in the end changing the system under which it
is working.
There are but two great systems in industry, the
competitive and the co-operative. In the one capital
assumes all the losses and gets all the profits
arising from production; in the other labor assumes
all losses and secures all profits. The factory system
is a part of the competitive. The purest form
of the co-operative system is socialism, but it has
been modified in a system popularly known as "cooperation"
— an idea which possesses none of the objectionable
features of socialism and one whose adoption
by modern society will be easy. There are
other modified forms of the competitive, such as
profit-sharing and "economic distribution of earnings,"
which give it many of the excellent qualities
of co-operation. The so called co-operative association
is more like a corporation, but as it is
generally composed of a limited number of laborers
alone, and not capitalists, organized for the purpose
of investing and handling their own capital in
connection with their daily manual trade, and
thus securing a just distribution of earnings, it is
popular to distinguish it from the corporation which
is generally composed of large capitalists — men who
commonly perform no manual labor — and call it a
co-operative association shall use the word co-operation
with the popular meaning — i. e. the corporative
and devoid of the broad or socialistic idea.
Both the co-operative and competitive principles
are old; they both came to us from the ancients.
Co-operation in early times is generally illustrated
by pointing to the old Teutonic communistic village.
All governments are co-operative. The
church is an ideal form of co-operation as far as its
sphere extends. The ancient competitive system
can be best illustrated by referring to the Asiatic
castes and to the different classes in Europe and
even to the separate governments. For instance
the Jews were compelled to compete with the inhabitants
of Canaan for the possession of that fair
country, and even after they once possessed it they
had continually to compete with the surrounding
nations to preserve their ownership. There was a
constant competition for existence between the upper
and lower castes as there is yet in many Asiatic
countries. The principle of competition can be
nicely illustrated by referring to the animal world,
where a continual war is waged on the weaker animals
by the stronger.
Competition, as waged in society today, possesses

Images from this collection may be downloaded for non-commercial educational and research purposes on the condition that The University of South Dakota, Archives and Special Collections is credited as the source. For permission to use a particular item for any other purpose, such as publishing, video production, exhibits, product presentations, interior design, or advertising, you must contact The University of South Dakota, Archives and Special Collections. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright.